The broad goal of this program is to improve the academic competitiveness of under- represented minority students at Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, and to facilitate their transition into the biomedical sciences at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. A partnership between the two institutions would be created to (1) offer traineeships to support minority students with an interest in the biomedical sciences; (2) create a supportive environment for study, one that includes mentoring, seminar, workshops, special transition courses and career counseling; (3) socialize community college students into the university community with laboratory research experiences; (4) develop an entry level course in biology and a new course designed to attract students to the sciences; (5) rejuvenate community college science teachers with a fellowship program; and (6) provide incentives and mechanisms for faculty from both institutions to work cooperatively to develop new approaches in undergraduate science teaching.